


The Lady of Descent

by booktick



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Implied Relationships, Opposites Attract, POV Davos Seaworth, Protectiveness, Temptation, Timeline What Timeline, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Valyria, flirting if you squint lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 02:15:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17716139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/booktick/pseuds/booktick
Summary: It's like honey on the sea whenever she's close and he does his best not to approach her.





	The Lady of Descent

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bela013](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bela013/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I own none of this franchise. 
> 
> A/N: Davos is off, far away from Westeros, with Melisandre (and Princess Shireen) because why not??? I just wanted an excuse to write for the two 😃😃😃

* * *

It's like honey on the sea whenever she's close and he does his best not to approach her. He keeps a stern eye on the depths, making sure none of the stone men find their way onto the ship. He has no idea why his King has sent him near here and not elsewhere, to cross through this wreckage of the past. The wretched place was cursed, any sailor from here to the Wall knew that. There must have been plenty of burrows to hide in, to slip away and remain until the fighting had commenced. Fancy word used by his King.

But from where he stood and watched, he could see it--Old Valyria that is. There were patches of smoke close by and at a distance and he did not want to get closer to inspect such things. This was no place for a child. Not for a crew. Not for him either.

And he was trapped with the King's Red Woman. 

Oh, how she smiled when he caught glimpses of her face. A pretty smile but twice as dangerous. It made everything far harder than he anticipated when they first set sail and his King gave his orders to protect the Princess Shireen. He figured if he fell to a great and forever sudden slumber out here it'd not be from the lingering of The Doom.

Instead, he stood on deck, head held high and searched as they went through what must have been a port for whatever city this had been they went by the ruins of Old Valyria. Fallen stones and broken material from centuries ago, and no sign of any Stone Men.

It sent nothing but chills up and down his spine. Even the strongest of folk would feel a tremble being this close to...this. Several had come here in seeking fortune and fame. He'd heard of the Lannister brother who vanished after sailing near here just as he heard of the Greyjoy and his horn. No good had come from these lands, these waters, yet if they were to hide and gain a better distance from Westeros and even the Free Cities...

He could have sworn there was another way but but each day they ended up closer and closer to the place. He didn't like to think too much of that. He assumed, on more than one occasion, that Melisandre had a few ideas, a dozen or more thoughts, on why it was. He hadn't even had his blessings before they all headed out. There would be nothing to save them if they wrecked or got overtaken by Stone Men. For now, they would have to be careful and keep an eye out as they sailed on the melting waters.

They had to go around Old Valyria. _They must._

"Frightened, Ser Davos?" Melisandre calls to him, smiling her smile.

He cleared his throat, "No, my lady." Davos doesn't let himself look at her.

"Yes, you are," She laughs before looking to the fallen port.

He reached out and gripped the ship, nails dug deep. He scratched at the wood out of desperation the closer they got to any sort of stone. The ship kept enough distance that it wasn't touching any of Valyria, or what was left of it, but enough that it wouldn't take long to swim there. If these were normal waters and this wasn't Doom touched depths of course. There'd be no swimming today.

"Shall we dock, Ser Davos?" The Red Woman had the nerve of a wolf.

Yet her words had meaning and they crawled deep into his ears, " _No_." That had his attention. "No, we shall not. _My lady_." He bites off the ends of his words.

"Such a shame," the clacks of her steps against the ship's deck, the steps _specifically_ towards him, crawled up his back and settled at his shoulders "I would have liked to have seen what was left of these lands."

"Nothing but death." Davos moved his hand before she could place hers over it.

But as he turned his head away from the waters, she stood in front of him. Her smile still so red and it met her eyes. She placed her hand, instead, upon his armored chest. He could have sworn he felt her hand upon his beating heart, the thudding behind his ribs had grown quiet upon her touch. If he were an honest man, he'd say upon her word.

"Death can be a great tragedy," her voice was softer, "And it can mean new beginnings."

He did not like the sound of that. It was like how he saw her whispering in the ears of others. He'd seen the flames, seen the burnings. He did not wish to die outside what was left of Old Valyria. He did not wish to die at sea, no matter how attached he had grown to it. To die in the water, far from land, from his King, was not his path. And he wasn't about to let the Red Woman know his fears.

Davos' eyes met hers and he saw what she saw, even if it was only for a breath. He was a dreaded feeling, that curiosity in him that wanted to know if that was what she saw in her flames each time. To know what her God said to her in her times of great need and want. He would not ask, not today, and he hoped he'd never have to. 

And how she stared, as red as her smiles and hair. He wanted to press his face against her hair, hold her close and watch the Smoking Sea but he did not. He forced himself to remember the words of his King and to press forward, temptation or not. He would do his duty.

It took everything in Ser Davos to tear his gaze from the Red Woman, and look back at fallen Valyria. He did not move to shove her from him or grip her hand, only stood and let her be whatever it was she wished. He swallowed the fear and nodded once.

"The King wanted us to keep distance from shore. For the _Princess Shireen_. That is all." His voice is as rough as his his hands and he worries the Lady Melisandre will want to know more of that.

There were lips at his cheek and he nearly forgets himself. "And here I thought we would have lessons learned, Ser Davos." He does not dare turn his head, does not dare to turn further towards  _her_.

He thought to give a reply, at least a verbal one. But she pulled away, her hand left his chest and her unseen burn remained there, gone past his armor to his very flesh. It would not leave him, her touches, no matter how hard he scrubbed and clawed. It was a reminder perhaps. Ser Davos did not need any reminder of who he sailed with.


End file.
